Saturday, October 24, 2009

israeli supreme court rules against segregated road

i don't know much about israeli jurisprudence, but i wonder how any of the other israeli-only roads that criss-cross the west bank can survive this ruling. if the system of segregated roads were to end, it would mean settlers would have to pass through the same checkpoints as palestinians. even with the easy treatment that cars with israeli plates will get at the checkpoints, just being in the same traffic stream would ruin their commute and substantially reduce the desirability of living in the settlements that serve as bedroom communities for other israeli cities.

which is why an end to "apartheid roads" would represent a large setback for the settler movement, a movement that is strongly supported by the current israeli government. which is why i expect the ruling will not go anywhere. either the netanyahu government will drag its feet in opening up the settlers-only roads or it will find a loophole to keep the ethnic-based segregation in place.